"He remained in Pontville for a couple of weeks longer than I would have liked to have been the case because I wasn't comfortable putting him into a group home with a number of 16 and 17-year-olds who he wasn't related to."

The minister says the 11-year-old and his cousins are now living in a group home where they are the only children in that home.

Another 11-year-old from Sri Lanka and his brother are still being held at Pontville - they are approved to be moved into the community this week.

A 16-year-old teenager who recently spent two months in Pontville and is now living in the community told the ABC it was like being in a prison.

"The life inside Pontville was something like prison. You just feel you're in prison. Everything had boundaries for you," he said.

"Mentally, it does makes you crazy. You find a lot of problems in there. Please don't keep the boys a lot there - don't keep them long in detention centre."

Eager to help

The Hobart community has been eager to offer the teenagers that are being held inside Pontville a place in their homes.

The Australian Homestay Network wants to run a pilot program in Tasmania where teenager asylum seekers can live in local people's homes.

Tony Burke says he has asked his department to investigate the option.

"My priority, as I said, is simply I want life to be as close to a normal family environment as you can get."

"Foster care, or Homestay, is the best example of that; a group home is not as good but it's still in the community."